More Details on Tower of Terror Incident

I am hearing various rumors about the incident at Walt Disney World’s MGM/Disney Studios yesterday, none of which point to this being a problem with the attraction, but I won’t post any of them here as I don’t have confirmation on any of them. The Orlando Sentinel has posted a follow up story, however, with a few more details about the incident.

Out of an abundance of caution, and good a PR move, Disney has invited state officials to come down and inspect the attraction. (Although without proper training on this kind of ride system I don’t know what good that will do.) If Tower of Terror passes inspection this morning it will probably open today.

12 Responses to More Details on Tower of Terror Incident

I am glad to hear that Disney is going to have the ride investigated. the young woman’s situation sounds very critical and it is important to determine if the ride has anything to do with her condition or not.

The weird/strange/interesting thing is that none of these (outside of the Big Thunder Mountain one out in CA) appear to be ride problems, but (speculating) something wrong with the rider. The question is: If I was a theme park operator, how would I prevent at-risk people from riding intense rides? And how in the world would you pick a 4- or 16-year old out as at-risk? Scary stuff…

The good news for Disney is that even with all of the pub recently, their track record is very good. They’ve had parks open for 50 years now, with parks all over the world, yet there have only been a handful of fatalities. When I worked for the Mouse, we pulled a guy who had a heart attack out of a 20K boat and some of the cast resusitated him (he died later at the hospital). Obviously, there was nothing thrilling about that ride, so sometimes these things happen…

Here’s a transcript of a 911 call from Walt Disney World’s Tower of Terror after a young woman who rode the thrill ride took ill. Lots more on this at The Disney Blog. Caller: Uh, medical. I have a guest here at Tower of Terror at the Studio, MGM Studi…

Here’s a transcript of a 911 call from Walt Disney World’s Tower of Terror after a young woman who rode the thrill ride took ill. Lots more on this at The Disney Blog. Caller: Uh, medical. I have a guest here at Tower of Terror at the Studio, MGM Studi…

people ride at there own risks so it’s not really the issue of shuttin the ride down. its the issue of checking what state of health the girl was in before she got on and if there is something faulty on the ride. It’s doubtful it was the ride because they are breifly inspeceted by the operator to see if any any minor or major faults. in this case i think it was just a bad case of heartburn and motion sickness combined.

You people amaze me as you act as if there is no value to a human life. I realize you are looking at the big picture, but speaking as a mother, I can only imagine how horrific these ordeals must have been. It sickens me to see Disney’s comments that “they are investingating and the rides were functioning as they should.” Give me a break! These are human lives! My family recently visited Disney World and I must say I was not impressed. Although the Tower of Terror was not running when we were there, due to the teenager’s incident, we did ride the Mission: space ride, unknowingly of the child’s death. I can say that this ride is the scariest ride. I had my two children and husband with me and all I could do was pray that we got off safely. When we lifted off, I literally could not catch my breath and neither could my children. I had to tell them to shut their eyes and take a breath. The pressure is so great you feel as if there is a 100 pounds sitting on your chest. How far is this park willing to go just for a buck? The little 4 year old boy should not have been allowed, yet the height requirements let him pass. That mother did not know how the ride would do him, just as I didn’t know. It is the park’s responsibility to give more details than just to say “if you have motion sickness or are pregnant, this ride may not be for you.” The whole things sickens me, as well as how the human lives lost here being disnmissed does.

I rode this Tower of Terror 2 months ago and still to this day, I actually “freak” when I remember the ride. I had NO idea what the ride was about, none at all. I asked people in line, and just alot of them said ‘it is fun, go on’. My husband and I both asked the young man at the gate before we entered what the ride was about, I told him I was afraid of heights and of falling. He smiled and said it is like being in one of those rides where you sit there and the chair just moves to give motion – okay, I can do that. WEll, I almost literaly died on that ride. I can’t even look at a picture of that ride now without an anxiety attack coming on. Okay, I saw the notice about being pregnant, motion sickness, etc. But we asked SPECIFIC questions to the young man in charge of the ride and he gave specifically WRONG answers – I should have followed through and reported him for that, but to be honest, I was so shooken up when I left the ride, that I was barely functionable for the rest of the day. Hey, I LOVE Disney, always have, always will, and will definately go back. But I was very saddened that they haven’t trained their workers to be totally honest with their guests. Hey, it isn’t like they are going to lose money if the people decide not to go on the ride then, we did already pay in advance….

I plan on taking my family to Disney world the first chance I get. I have been so many times with my parents when I was a kid. So I am very aware of the old rides. the new rides I take the RESPONSIBILITY of looking into how the ride works. Calling, asking questions, finding the information about the new rides to determine now before I take my family. I trust a Disney ride over any other theam park or local carnival. I know the track record they carry and how often a ride is check for safety and the fact if ANY RIDE is not up to standard OR shows any technical glitch and it may even be just an animatronic not functioning correctly Disney will shut it down immediately until the problem is solved and fixed. I have experienced it first hand. To sit there and say that other posters here do no value human life or that Disney dosn’t value human life is more than in little poor taste. Disney is a world for everyone it offers muliple levels fun/thrills so each person can have “their” own level of fun. Maybe a little more resurch should be involved before you just go jumping on a ride.

Please forgive me for posting anything so late compaired to everyone else, I honestly never heard that anyone died on this specific ride. I myself have rode it, about five years ago. I was 15 and still to this day I am scared of elevators I always was, but now I will not take one no matter what…stairs are the best way for me to go.
But what I wanted to say was I agree with a few of your comments, the one about the guy at the front making false statements…or rather not telling the whole truth about the ride. He did not lie but he did fail to warn you about what it really did do. Also I do have to agree with the poster that makes the comment about how they check the safety of their rides. They definantly do that. My uncle used to work with some of the security personal from there and I would hear stories about how their safety inspections went. However when I went on the ride myself I was in the same row as a woman who was much larger than myself and I slid out from under the safety bar. I was terrified they stopped the ride early because the customers picture showed two guys in the row behind us holding my legs to keep me somewhat in the ride. The ride is definatly not one to ride multiple times. But that is entirely my own personal opinion. I just hope that someone would check on a ride before they go jumping into something…would u jump into a muddy puddle not knowing how to swim without knowing how deep it goes? Just ask yourself simple questions before going into the dark.

I just rode the Tower of Terror for the first time on Saturday…..I was really not impressed. I do not like elevators, but this did not scare me in the least. Maybe I expected much more because of all the hype, but I was truly disappointed. If you found this ride beyond scary, stay away from California Screamin!

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